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OTTTD is an acronym for Over The Top Tower Defence, and over the top it is. For those of you who don’t know what a tower defence game is, essentially you defend a home base by placing and upgrading static towers at set points along a road which enemies will come down in waves. Placing the right towers in the right places is essential, for example, a tower that slows enemies before several big damage dealers to make sure you get the maximum effect.
With Hotline Miami dominating the top-down, over-the-top, brutally violent genre in gaming since its introduction in 2012, it was high time a new game tried to get in on the action and take the steely crown. Having started out in 2014, Krakow based developers One More Level have added another game to their catalogue with God’s Trigger. Promising the opportunity to ‘slay enemies with speed and precision in an over-the-top show of blood and explosions’, I was keen to see just how well this one would hold up. Find out here at Rapid Reviews UK!
When Radiation City appeared on the eShop list of titles ‘Coming Soon’, I was excited. The original mobile port release by Atypical Games, Radiation Island, was one that I spent considerable time with during my early days playing the Nintendo Switch. While it was not without its fault, it offered an open-world experience with simple-to-play game mechanics and a crafting system I quite enjoyed. Fast forward then to my first, and last, hour playing Radiation City, and my thoughts on a promising game experience with bags of potential had diminished from excitement to utter, utter disappointment.
Leisure Suit Larry has a long-running history with video games. Initially starting in the late 80’s; Larry Laffer has been squirming his way through many different console iterations trying to charm the pants (quite literally) off any hot-blooded female he can get a hold of. This has been my first encounter with Larry, and it has undoubtedly made a lasting impression. I’m a big fan of the point and click genre, so I jumped at the opportunity to play this classic series.
Not to be confused with a phrase Kanye West might use when addressing his eldest daughter, Bad North is a real-time tactical roguelike game designed and developed by Plausible Concept. Now, while Kanye references may be less and less appropriate as I divulge my experiences with this title, some excellent links can be made in the opening.
The bit crushed sound effects, synth-heavy soundtrack and pixelated graphics all make for an accurate recreation of classic arcade shooters, yet Zeroptian Invasion refuses to step forward.
Dragon Star Varnir is a JRPG through and through, with all the JRPG tropes you can shake a stick at. Being a Compile Heart game, it has the fan service to boot. Along with the fan service, there is a relationship building a decent story and feeding young kids raw meat (don’t try that at home).
I’m a big fan of games with strong narratives. When Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons came out back in 2013, I was excited to play it, but for one reason or another, I never got around to it. When I bought the game years later, I, for some reason, couldn’t get into it at all. Fast-forward to yesterday, where I got sent the code for the game to review and finished the game in a single sitting – only breaking to eat dinner with my wife. I had a great time with Brothers, aside from a few small issues that I’ll go into below.
The Mystery of Woolley Mountain is a point and click adventure game that was funded successfully on Kickstarter. Not all games reach their targets, so this tells you a lot about the team and their vision. I am a big fan of this genre of game, and so I was intrigued to play it. What mystery lies in wait on Woolley Mountain? Read on for my Rapid Review.
Pardon the pun, but Tennis games have been hit and miss over the past couple of years. It's usually apparent after a couple of sets if the game is going to be an enjoyable experience or not. Does Super Tennis Blast ace it or is it another foot fault? Read my Rapid Review to find out.
Will Riley (the game’s main protagonist) has been caught standing over the body of his recently murdered father. Innocent of the crime of patricide, Will, unfortunately, ends up on the guilty side and gets some hard time. Taking inspiration from an excellent TV series about prison breaking (cough), Will takes a sharp exit out of a window in the medical bay and escapes from his recent incarceration.
The Gaijin Distribution published title, Blades of Time, is the latest in a long line of ports from the last generation of home consoles to land on the Nintendo Switch. Whilst many have been obvious choices, and some a little less so, Blades of Time was the first that made me truly question why. This hack-and-slash, action-adventure title from 2012 is neither steeped in nostalgia nor back by popular demand. The media opinions were somewhat of a mixed bag, and it seemed that Blades of Time would be left to rest alongside the Xbox 360 and PS3.
Have you ever had that urge to go out with a spray can and break the law, with some very lax policing going on? No, me neither, if you have, please call 101 now thank you. So I threw on my baggy hoodie and my baseball cap and dived into this world of Vandals. Starting back in 1960, you travel through and discover this evolving world of wall art in this Vandals Switch Review.
Xenon Racer is a racing game very much built on the successes of Wipeout and Ridge Racer, releasing on all platforms is a testament to the developers for giving us gamers variety. Set in 2030 you would be forgiven a utopia of the I robot, terminator style tracks or environments and the objective is to win races, unlock new cars, customisations and tracks in different modes via Grand Prix, split screen, time trial and online.
Devious Dungeon 2 is a simple game to understand and play, this a bad thing? NO! The simple approach is the best part, at least for me. It’s a nice change from having loads of buttons to press. The story is not the draw for players as well; it is very light on the story. I kept coming back time after time to beat that last level that I died on. For myself, this is a great change of pace.
Like most people, I have always been a fan of the kind of game that lets me go anywhere and do anything. I find that I will spend hours doing the most menial of tasks: fishing for example. Whilst I don't like fishing games, I love fishing in an open world…. I'm aware how odd that sounds.
Cuphead is not for the faint-hearted, and I will say from the outset don’t be lured in by its cutesy, charming hand-drawn visuals. It’s tough as nails. When the Nintendo Switch edition launched, it introduced a handful of updates to the game including the ability to play as either Cuphead or Mugman right from the start of your adventure.
Falcon Age is a first-person adventure game developed by the small, Seattle-based studio Outerloop. Your journey begins by awaking in a prison cell on a fictitious planet, colonised by an organisation known as the Outer Ring Community (ORC). ORC has stationed robots to farm the planet for resources and uses its inhabitants for manual labour. You play as one of these inhabitants, Ara, whose days consist of monotonous material gathering under the watchful eye of the enslavers. A chance encounter with a baby falcon allows you to escape from the regime and begin your training as a falcon hunter. Fighting alongside her people, Ara plots a rebellion against ORC to reclaim the land that was once theirs.
Developed by a one-man band hailing from Finland, Super Blood Hockey is a faithful nod to the games of the late 80’s and 90’s. Adding a touch of bloodthirsty violence to the sport of Hockey, Loren Lemcke has looked to remind us all of what made gaming so great way back when. Demonstrating that whilst graphical enhancements and complex storylines are always welcome, you can’t go wrong with a bit of simplistic, wholesome fun. With the backing of Digerati, renowned for their support of independent game developers, the once Steam only title is now available on the eShop.
I’m going to start this review off in a manner befitting of Capcom’s latest behemoth offering on the Nintendo Switch, go and buy Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen NOW. If for some reason you are still here, then let me take five minutes of your time to divulge exactly why this expansive, detailed and beautifully crafted open world role-playing game is worthy of your attention.